We're pretty sure that Santa receives tons of Porsche 911 requests every year and yet the safest way to adorn you garage with such a Neunelfer is to go for that special piggy bank that will allow you to grab, say, a 996-generation 911.
The 996 has now reached that sweet spot where the always-slow Porsche depreciation finally allows the rear-engined model to be within many enthusiasts' reach and yet the sportscar remains fresh enough to be able to deliver pleasing performance.
And one of the enthusiasts who are talking full advantage of the said scheme is Mat Watson. The Carwow journo grabbed a 911 Carrera earlier this year, buying the car straight from a British Porsche dealer after doing tons of homework.
The 996 has its drawbacks, though, among which we find the rather tame exhaust soundtrack. Mat decided it was time to do something about the voice of his Porsche and was prepared to gift the 3.4-liter flat-six heart of his car with an aftermarket muffler.
However, once again turning to online research, Mat came up with a much more affordable solution.
"Known as the Gundo Hack, it consists of a welding a small bypass pipe between the inlet and outlet pipes of the standard mufflers. This allows some of the exhaust gasses to bypass the sound deadening muffler thereby changing the tone and volume of the car's exhaust note. The modification essentially mimics the official Porsche Sports Exhaust. However, there is no switchable valve so the exhaust is permanently in sports mode," Mat explains in the YouTube description of the video below.
The clip allows us to check out the before & after soundtrack of the Neunelfer, thankfully going from the cold start and static revving to take-offs.
The only issue with such a job is that the always-fierce nature of the exhaust threatens the grand tourer side of the 911, as it can become bothering during highway trips, so perhaps you should consider investing in a valve-gifted system that offers a dual aural personality.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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